Monday, November 29, 2010

Recipe: Easy Cheesy Tilapia

I am a huge fan of tilapia. It is both good for you and doesn't taste too fishy (I don't do salmon or many other fish). Our favorite tilapia recipe is delicious but chock full of calories. I found this recipe on my go-to site, allrecipes.com, however, the original recipe called for it to be baked in the oven and mine is on the fritz so I altered it to cook on the stovetop.

There are a few things to love about this dish. #1, it was super easy. From start to finish it took me under 20 minutes to get dinner on the table. #2, it was fairly inexpensive to make. Tilapia filets were $6 and the bag of steamed veggies I served on the side were on sale for $1.66. Everything else I already had on hand (another plus for this recipe). #3, I love that the only bad thing here is the cream cheese and it's only 4 ounces so it's not that tragic. The total calorie count is 210 per filet.

And the best part? James said this is a definite "make again" and gives the dish 4.5 out of 5 stars. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

In a skillet over medium heat, pour enough vegetable or olive oil in the skillet to coat the bottom. Add a teaspoon of minced garlic (or a dusting of powdered garlic) if desired. Season tilapia filets on each side with a sprinkle of lemon pepper seasoning (old bay seasoning would work too). Place filets in warm skillet and cook 2 minutes on each side or until fish flakes with fork.

While fish cooks, melt cream cheese in microwave. Add dill weed. Add lemon juice until mixture is of desired texture (I wanted mine slightly thick but others might like it thinner). You might want to start with a small amount of lemon and taste test the cheese mixture as you go.

Once filets are cooked place on plate and spread with cheese sauce. Serve immediately.